Science
Whether these laws extend further than Itaedia or are limited to the world itself is unknown, suffice to say there is much known about Itaedia that is mind-breaking, and much left to understand. In the beginning... Base Let us assume the four fundamental interactions or forces known to create a viable universe: electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, and graviation. Itaedia functions with a fifth: communication. One thing that the greatest Pagan Paetism users have found and expounded almost immediately before becoming Vedali (as attempting to understand this without immense preparation will not end well) is that absolutely all thing down to the quark level are sentient to some extent. The ability of each atomic element to communicate and consequently be manipulated depends on its stability, with communication ability increasing in inverse proportion to atomic stability. Typically sentience and communication requires need, something defined as impossible for an atomic element given only four fundamental forces. In Itaedia, elements have a need to remember what they have been and to maintain harmony with their original state being equivalent to human Nirvanna. Their ability to think and move despite not having any mechanism through which to do so is, at present, attributed to pocket dimensions housing communication centers. World Obviously this means that the universal structure of Itaedia is extremely unstable and prone to errors in what amounts to the programming of the universe. The world itself apparently behaved to some extent like every other solid planet with the potential for housing life for several billion years, but at some point magic occurred and the fundamental laws of the universe began to tear Itaedia apart. As a consequence, elements have used their sentience to prevent the complete cataclysmic annihilation of Itaedia and presumably everything in relative (perhaps solar system, likely up to galatic level) proximity. Two competing hypotheses regarding how the crap this happened involve either Itaedia being the body of a dead (or slumbering?) god/entity, or some entity introducing magic to Itaedia and cackling as the madness ensued. Considering the nature of the created dream and the principle of a lucid dreamer, the latter may have more credibility than the former. Conclusion Consequently, magic is a telepathic communication with atomic elements in a particular configuration representing a concept within the user's mind and by extension the mind of any society the user has encountered. This is all completely contrary to the laws of a sensible universe, and should be treated as such: "http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra" Enlightenment Within the past several hundred years in Itaedia it was realized that magic was merely the manipulation of laws inherent to the nature of the world, a discovery that ushered in an entirely new phase of research. This new trend was known primarily for self-sustaining, non-magical apparatuses that could operate through multiple means. The Engine The engine was developed as an enhancement, and later replacement for magical movement of matter. Pistons took their initial form from a combination of water wheels and the legs of horses. Engines are used primarily for their efficiency, as they are capable of performing multiple tasks at the same time given one energy source - something requiring many magic users. Threshers of varying levels of effectiveness are often seen on farms, and several wood-chopping machines have been developed. These machines are somewhat limited by the sheer quantity of gods and various magical creatures that get very angry when their forest is damaged. Consequently the chainsaw and the Sunderer were developed and deployed by very, very mad (in both senses) mages with grudges. After their gruesome deaths (having levelled more forest than anyone expected), such machines are classified as weapons, rather than common utilities. The mage who developed the automatic wine press quite literally was able to flood a small city with wine and spirits as a kind of publicity stunt. He died during the consequent party of having far, far too much drunk sex. The vast majority of bars still lobby the Cult of Saints for permission to have him entered. One group of mages was actually able to refine the engine to such a degree that they created a self-propelled wagon that could go as fast as a bird in free-fall. While much vaunted as a revolution in transportation, this machine is limited tremendously by the lack of easy routes to take with it. The mage group has since taken to attempting to incorporate storm magic, heavy armor plating, and taking many people and objects at once in order to compensate for the lack of roads. There are whispers of a competing group, hidden in the shadows. Rumors continue to fly about an attempt to mimic Velocism's abilities, but surely that isn't possible... Electromagnetism Storm magic was developed by combat mages and was typically considered nothing but a flashy and faster replacement for fire magic. Finding out that this wasn't the case was purely an instance of luck, as many crucial discoveries often are. A Paetism-specialized mage had taken up storm magic and was playing around with it, attempting to create smaller bolts, seeing what it did to various substances, and such forth. This mage had a (some would say silly) preference for spirals and coils as decoration and instrument, and had discovered 50 different uses for springs as well as several formulas relating to them as a consequence. Two such spirals were close enough together that the mage noticed the charge going into the other spiral. After several experiments, the mage was credited with discovered electromagnetism. His stroke of luck fairly created a field of scientific inquiry, and magnets are still considered a curiosity somewhere between children's toy and incredibly important tool. The idea of sending signals over a long distance was taken from light magic and consequently much research has gone into transporting electricity over long distances, which has led to the building of city-wide power grids in some of the most advanced cities. These grids still blow up often enough, but they are a mark of pride for any city, and a storm mage can make a name for themselves and their town by developing a working grid on their own. While letters transported by couriers are still the best method for communication over longer distances, especially if you can hire a Velocism user, telegraphs are gaining prominence as the best intra-city communication device. The telephone was recently developed by a Velocism mage who noticed that electicity can create vibrations in metal approximating sound if done properly, but due to its recency it hasn't caught on... yet. Nuclear The highest tiers of Storm, Wind, and Mineral mages have discovered the ability to split atoms apart, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. Each and every single one immediately stated that it felt like killing something and that it felt like everything "snapped back at me." Nuclear research is stagnant and has not received much attention. Conclusion By the time of the Brynnewald campaign, despite being approximately the 1800s as far as culture goes, the technology is more similar to the 1920s. Of course, the application of all this technology is somewhat limited... The impact of constant war Civic limitations While cultural diffusion has played a big role in development of civic technology, the fact that pretty much all of that cultural diffusion was after a ton of bloodletting limited the applicability of any technology not related to warfare. For example: despite there being cars, few roads exist. There is no large-scale, stable government with the ability to make them (as Rome did on Earth). Further, there remain many highly dangerous magical creatures that imperil travellers. There are caravans, and the advent of Velocism-users as messengers allows communication between villages and later, cities, but those civilians who have not specialized in wind magic to that extent typically stay behind their walls and try not to meddle. Battle Improvements: Warrior mages developed mineral, fire, wind, storm, and shadow magics. Light magic was used primarily for signalling and the like, but ultimately developed more by religious mages and not typically and province of war. Velocism was used to send messages, with the Afrik Isle taming its wild winds for fast travel. Paetism was used on the Golden Plain, where the semi-sentient mineral deposits actively enriched the earth wherever the herds moved. This mineral has a symbiotic relationship with the Yoonda herds of the plain, feeding off the bacteria in their waste and the pyromancy-infused charcoal from their fires. War magic, due to the arduous process involved in learning it, took on a much more spiritual meaning to its users than it did to some purely scientific mages. That said, there was a constant arms race between magic users. Water whips and swords were countered with stone armor. Stone armor was countered by steel weapons. Steel armor. Pyromancy-forged weapons. Pyromancy-forged armor. Blasts of fire used by multiple users. Thick dirt barricades. Piercing lightning blasts. Wind deflection. Vacuum regions. It just went on and on. The advances in scientific research only made guns and armor progress further. Category:Science